If you haven’t read Part 1, check it out before moving on. To summarize, “The Don’t Care Philosophy” is lived by not caring about anything you can’t control, and the only thing you can control is yourself. Therefore, the only thing you should care about is yourself. How’s that for an opening statement for this intelligent audience.
It might be because I’m a Leafs fan that I adamantly promote “The Don’t Care Philosophy”. I mean I’d have no hope of being happy if I cared about the NHL standings during my 29 year history of being a fan, but there’s more to it that that. This is about having a deep look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and knowing whether or not you controlled what you could that day. If you did, there’s no reason not to rest easy. If not, take full responsibility and try again tomorrow. The people around you will thank you for becoming happier, healthier and wealthier.
It’s a hard idea for many to wrap their heads around. The idea that you should only care about yourself is one they won’t make a movie about. However, what if caring only about what you can control included more than just yourself? Furthermore, what if caring primarily for yourself led to the betterment of everyone around you? Let’s talk about that.
Everybody wishes they had more control over the things that happen but nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions. This is the problem that must be overcome in order to gain control of your life. We live with the consequences of our actions to date every time we get up in the morning. We are only ever where we’re at because of what we’ve already done, but the finger is always pointed outward instead of at ourselves. You’re late for work, your kids are screaming, you lost the sale, got sunburnt and your credit card is at its limit. This is all your fault, it has to be. You ought to care about your kids, your livelihood, your health and your finances, but if you claim you can control none of it, you’re liable to live a dreadful life. We must take ownership.
If you need a book to convince you, check out Jocko Willink’s “Extreme Ownership” and you’ll get the idea. We can’t go about our business thinking ourselves as only a victim of what happens. These days people like to complain about how expensive everything is. The famous teacher Jim Rohn offers a different way to look at it: things aren’t too expensive, you just can’t afford them. Change your way of thinking and change your life by pondering the steps you can take to put yourself in a more favourable position. Think backwards at your last 5 decisions and see if any tweaks could have led to a better outcome. This is called “The 5 Why’s”.
What happens is your fault. In a mere 5 why’s, nearly every circumstance you find yourself in can be traced back to yourself. You control more than you think, so I would suggest placing a high regard on what you do and how you do it. When you take great care in who you become, you get the privilege of controlling more and more of your life. This way, it’s much harder for anything to knock you down.
At the same time that you’re reaping the rewards of caring for yourself, so will be the people around you. The greatest version of you is the one who will have the greatest influence on others. It’s a concept made popular by Matthew McConaughey in his book “Green Lights” that he likes to call egotistical utilitarianism. Being egotistical is not generally thought of to be a positive trait, but if you don’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of others? What McConaughey suggests is that by first taking care of yourself, you have the greatest opportunity to positively influence the greatest number of people. If all you ever do is care for other people, your ceiling to influence is low. Caring only for others is often admired, and rightfully so, but when it comes at the expense of your own potential, you could just as easily argue that you could serve the world better by first serving yourself.
It might be because I’m a Leafs fan that I adamantly promote “The Don’t Care Philosophy”. I mean I’d have no hope of being happy if I cared about the NHL standings during my 29 year history of being a fan, but there’s more to it that that. This is about having a deep look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day and knowing whether or not you controlled what you could that day. If you did, there’s no reason not to rest easy. If not, take full responsibility and try again tomorrow. The people around you will thank you for becoming happier, healthier and wealthier.
- Cody